By Daniel Kanu
The war of words between the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) took a turn for the worse on Thursday when the party claimed that Saraki was not fit to occupy the country’s third most important position.
Saraki, who defected from the APC to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last week has been severely criticised by the ruling party particularly over his refusal to relinquish the Senate Presidency which the APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, said is the party’s crown.
Oshiomhole said it was not only the right thing for Saraki to do – vacate his seat, having left the party – but also a matter of honour to leave “the crown” in the family it belongs to.
Speaking on Saraki’s defection last week, Oshiomhole said, “The only thing is that there are other consequential issues that every man or woman of honour who had taken such decisions would be expected to follow through.
“I mean, you should not collect a crown that belongs to a family and wear it on behalf of the family if for your personal reasons which he has enumerated that he has gone to another family.
“It is just a matter of honour to leave the crown in the house that the crown belongs to.
“As it stands even now, APC is still the largest party in the Senate. We have 53 senators, that is much more than PDP or APGA has.”
However, addressing a World Press Conference on Wednesday in Abuja, the Senate President said once the numbers stated by the constitution for his impeachment are met, he and other principal officers of the Senate will vacate their offices.
He said: “Let me reiterate that neither myself, Deputy Senate President nor Speaker belong to the class of politicians that are desperate to stay in power by all means and at all costs. The day two thirds of our members feel they do not have confidence in our leadership, we will gracefully bow out. I repeat again and again, this is not about us, but about respecting the constitution and the rule of law…”
Constitutionally, 73 out of 109 senators is required to effect the impeachment of any principal officer of the red chamber, excluding the leadership of party caucuses.
But this position seemed to have irked the APC the more, hence their resort to name calling and outright abuse of the person of the Senate President on Thursday.
Below is the full text of the APC statement
Bukola Saraki Not Fit For the Senate Presidency
In every democratic country, the position of the Senate President is one of the highest political offices one can attain. It is a position reserved for the best of the best, experienced and exemplary politicians who by their character and conduct in public offices, the younger generation look up to as role models.
In terms of exemplary personage, the reverse is the case in respect of the current Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki who has been a dismal failure and has been involved in one controversy or the other – budget padding, filibustering, legislative rascality, sabotage of matters of national interest, among other criminalities too numerous to mention.
Having suffered under the 16-year misrule of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Saraki will go down in our country’s history as the worst Senate President Nigeria has had the misfortune to have. Since his usurpation of the coveted seat, achieved through a wicked conspiracy with members of the opposition PDP, it has been from one controversy to another – the Code of Conduct trial for false declaration of assets; conspiracy with his deputy to fraudulently alter the rules of the Senate and links to the deadly armed robbers who wasted many lives in the Offa robbery attack. It is alleged that some of the robbery suspects were his political thugs used to rig elections; a common adage says: “Show me your friends and I will tell you who you are”.
Dr. Saraki is definitely not our good example for political leadership.
All over the world, the leadership of the legislature is provided by the political party with majority members. But Dr. Saraki would in the absence of many members of his former party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), connive and conspire with members of the opposition PDP to emerge Senate President, and in the process tradeoff the Deputy Senate President position to the opposition PDP – a political betrayal and treachery even the devil would be envious of.
Even at this time he has defected to the opposition PDP, and with APC still in the majority in the Senate, Dr. Saraki still has the impudence to present himself as the Senate President. Political ambition should be made of nobler stuff.
One is of course not surprised as Dr. Saraki’s greed, selfishness, treachery, disregard for protocol and constituted authority is well-reported. In terms of treachery, Dr. Saraki’s public humiliation of his late father and sister comes readily to mind.
A traitor will always be a traitor, however the time and place. The Senate must do everything possible to put Dr. Saraki where he rightly belongs – the back seat. He is definitely not a fit and proper person to preside over the country’s upper and revered legislative house.
A man who betrayed his father, sister (many times), his party PDP in 2014, the APC in 2015 by conspiring with opposition PDP senators to emerge Senate President, APC administration by sabotaging the executive and defecting to the PDP in 2018 has no character, principles, values and integrity. His only interest is Bukola Saraki, Bukola Saraki and Bukola Saraki. The question is not IF he will defect again from PDP if Bukola Saraki’s interest is not served, but WHEN he will do so. Such mean men are not interested in the Nigeria of our dreams.
SIGNED:
Mr. Yekini Nabena
Ag. National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)